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l @uitrit tetra igt-rient @ffice JAMES. A. VHITNEY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

Letters Patent No. 69,521, dated October 1, 1867; `ant-@elated September 26, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN SPIKES.

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T0 ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JAMES A. WHITNEY, late of Maryland, in the county of Otsego, and State of New York, but now of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson, and State of INew Jersey, have invented a new and useful [Improvement in Spikes and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a portion of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view, and

Figures 2 and 3 areside views of spikes constructed according to my invent-ion.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

This invention consists in a toothed, notched, or serrated spike, constructed with a twisted or spiral portion in such manner that when the spike is driven into wood or equivalent material, it is made to turn or twist, so that the teeth formed thereon are caused to forcibly bite into the wood or other material, and thus prevent the spike from being withdrawn, except by the exertion to that end of a -very great or extreme degree of force.

To enable others to understand the nature and construction of my invention, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings. j

The body or main length of the spike is marked A in the several figures, and is furnished with a head, a, of any form or construction appropriate to the purpose for which the spike is to be used. The opposite or lower end of the said body A is made pointed in any ordinary or suitable manner, as, for instance, as shown at b.

AEach of the four sides ofthe body A ofthe spike, excepting a space adjacent to the head a thereof, is notched or indented, as indicated at a', the said notches being deepest at one edge of the said side, and gradually sloping to the surface toward the opposite edge thereof,- so that while a longitudinal series of teethor serrations, 6', is formed at one edge of each of the sides, the edges opposite thereto upon the respective sides will be left plain or smooth. The notches or indentations a are so shaped that the upper surface of each of the teeth b', formed between or alternating with the said notches, is made nearly or quite flat, and nearly or quite at right angles to that side of the spike upon which the tooth is formed. The teeth b may be formed at either the right or the left-hand edges of the sides .of the spike, as may be desired, but in any event the arrangement of the teeth at one edge or the other of the respective sides should correspond or be the same with all the sides, in order that the said teeth may be caused to properly bite into the wood or material into which the spike is driven, by the turning or twisting movement of the said spike, as will be hereinafter fully set forth. Situated at any suitable or desired distance below the head a, and just above the toothed, notched, or serrated portion just hereinbefore described, is a spiral or twisted portion, which is represented at c clin the drawings, the twist of the said portion being in one direction or the other, according as the teeth b are situated at one edge or the other of the sides upon which they are formed, in such manner that when the spike, or, in other words, the body A ofthe same, is driven into wood o r other similar or equivalent material, the entrance of the said spiral or twisted portion c d thereof into such wood or material will canse the spike to turn or twist around upon its longitudinal axis to an extent suicient to force or cause thc teeth b to bite laterally into the wood or material, the said teeth being thus firmly embedded in the fibres ofthe said wood or material, and, as a consequence, eifectually resisting and lpreventing any withdrawal or outward movement of the spike except when a very great or extreme degree of force is exerted to effect such withdrawal. The notches a', or, in other words, the teeth b', may be formed in any suitable manner, and the spiral or twisted portion cid may be formed by twisting the proper portion of the spike around the longitudinal axis of the same to the required extent, or it may be formed or'shaped during the manufacture of the spike by any other appropriate means.

Fig. 2 shows a modified form of the invention, the said modification consisting in the construction of the spike with supplemental teeth c', similar to the teeth Z1', and situated upon or above'the spiral or twisted portion c d, and at those edges of the sides of the spike opposite those at which the teeth b', below the aforesaid spiral portion, are situated, in such a way that the spike being driven into wood or material, as hereinbefore set forth, any reaction of such-wood or material upon the outer or lateral surfaces of the teeth b will tend to force the supplemental teeth c into the wood or mate-rial at the opposite or contrary sides of the hole in'which the spike is situated, and thus enable the aforesaid supplemental teeth to assist the action of the teeth in holding or retaining the spike therein.

What I claim as my inventio'n, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A. notched, toothed, or serrated spike, constructed with a spiral or twisted portion, substantially as herein set forth.

JAMES A. WHITNEY.

Witnesses :V A; F. Scannen,

W. D. FmsnrA 

